Celebrity and Celestial Stargazing Make ‘Total Recall’ Bash Memorable

The Scene: Mega-bash Thursday night for “Total Recall,” a Tri-Star release that promises to be boffo at the box office. After a packed screening at the Hollywood Pacific (where, outside, fans chanted, “ Ah -nald! Ah -nald!” when “Total Recall” star Schwarzenegger arrived), Columbia hosted a party at Griffith Observatory, where guests were treated to laser shows, dancing, psychics, tarot card and palm readers and a great view of L.A. from the roof. Guests could gaze at the grid and privately hope that, someday, all that would be theirs.

The Buzz: Ronny Cox, one of the film’s co-stars, summed it up when he excitedly said to a friend, “I think the buzz on this is good.” While some seemed alarmed by the film’s screechy noise level, spurting blood and high body count, most seemed sure it would bring in audiences--even if they have to pay the new inflated ticket price of $7.50 at some theaters.

Who Was There: Schwarzenegger, with his wife, Maria Shriver, and his mother, Aurelia; director Paul Verhoeven, co-stars Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone; plus Mimi Rogers, Grace Jones, Paul Michael Glaser, Debbie Allen, Jack and Elaine LaLanne, Mr. T, Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern, Pat Riley, Tony Danza, Pierce Brosnan, Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet Jones, Michael Nouri, Ivan Reitman, Sandra Bernhard, Robert Davi, Lou Ferrigno, Julian Sands, Esai Morales, Timothy and Barbara Leary, and Sondra Locke.

Dress Mode: Standouts in the mostly business-suited crowd included Mr. T’s neon graffiti-printed shorts and jacket accessorized with his usual colossal collection of gold chains; Grace Jones’ slinky grape-colored dress and painted-on eyebrows; Debbie Allen’s hot-pink satin pouf jacket; Jack LaLanne’s red and black pin-striped suit; Wayne Gretzky’s stubble, and Mimi Rogers’ tailored jacket over low-cut T-shirt.

Chow: Along Came Mary fed the hungry troops buffet-style, with mini-hamburgers, onion rings, pizza, scallop skewers, baby racks of lamb, and sundaes, cookies and brownies.

Quoted: Who is Schwarzenegger’s toughest critic? His mother, of course. But not to worry--”She loved it,” he said. “I always ask her what she thinks. She thought the action was great, all the futuristic things.”

Overheard: “I knew I needed earplugs for the Roxy, but I didn’t think I’d need to bring them to a movie,” said one woman whose ears were still ringing an hour after the movie had ended.

A Movie by Any Other Name . . .: One industry wag has already re-dubbed the film, “Like, I Recall--Totally!”

OK, but Is There Going to Be a Total Recall II?: Not directed by Verhoeven, it seems. “I don’t think I could do this again,” he admitted. “I’d get kind of bored, probably.”